Beautiful Baubbles

"Come on Ruth, let's go get us some baubbles," she would say to me. I wasn't quite sure what she was saying, and I was pretty certain from the sound of the accent she was from New York. Turns out Bobbie Sotonoff, whom I had befriended on a memorable trip to the Virgin Islands was from the Chicago area. I soon learned upon our arrival in St. Croix via amphibious plane, that a baubble was a bit of jewelry.

Bobbie is a hoot and every once in awhile I am blessed with an email from her that is so funny I'll be sobbing with laughter before I finish reading it. An inveterate roamer she was traveling probably 20 out of 30 days a month when I met her.

I bring this up because I can't look at a piece of jewelry anymore without thinking of Bobbie and her "baubbles." This morning while preparing another gift guide I was pretty impressed when I came upon this page. We really have a great line up of beautiful bracelets right now, and I want everyone of them to find a happy home. Earrings pictured here can be seen by clicking on the photo. Everyone can always use another beautiful "baubble."/Ruth Mitchell

I Guess You Thought We had Fallen Off the Face of the Earth

It seems that way. We've been so busy with the holiday buying season, and trying to have a little family time of our own, that the blog has suffered. That's one of the challenges of a small company like ours. The good news is that we are busy making buyoutsidethebox.com your one stop shopping website for art and unique things this holiday season. From exquisite pottery and art glass to jewelry and items from our gourmet gallery, we think you'll be amazed at all the beautiful things you can buy on our website.

On a personal note, over the Thanksgiving holiday, we were very blessed to have most of our family gathered. What I thought would be a great hit with the grandkids, a viewing of Happy Feet, was mostly a bust. By the time all the adults joined in to watch our Netflix movie, the little ones, already overstimulated by all the fun were ready to wander. Oh well. I'd heard so much about the movie, but what turned out to be even more enjoyable was the March of the Penguins, the Academy Award-winning nature documentary by Luc Jacquet about the Emperor Penguins who live at the South Pole. This amazing documentary, probably provided inspiration for the creators of Happy Feet. Viewing it has inspired me to become more proactively "Green" at our house than we already are. The delicate eco system this highly specialized species lives in is at risk as is all the earth.

Are you recycling? If your recycling doesn't outweigh your other garbage, you should probably reexamine you recycling procedures. We live in a remote area, and so don't have curbside pickup, but we manage to haul as much recycling material to town as if we did have curbside service.

And as much as I enjoy looking at catalogs that come in the mail, especially this time of year, I'm proud to think that our online only gallery does not contribute to the deforestation of the earth. I found some pretty interesting info on the topice at http://www.41pounds.org/. For instance did you know:

• More than 100 million trees are destroyed each year to produce junk mail. 42% of timber harvested nationwide becomes pulpwood for paper.
  


• The energy used to produce and dispose of junk mail exceeds 2.8 million cars.
  Save water. About 28 billion gallons of water are wasted to produce and recycle junk each year.
  


• You waste about 70 hours a year dealing with junk mail.
  


• The pulp and paper industry is the single largest consumer of water used in industrial activities in developed countries, and it’s the third-largest industrial greenhouse gas emitter (after the chemical and steel industries).
  


• The average adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail each year (about 560 pieces). 44% goes to the landfill unopened.
  


• On average, we receive 10.8 pieces of junk mail a week, compared to only 1.5 personal letters.
  


• More than 62 billion pieces (4 million tons) of junk mail are produced each year.
  The majority of household waste consists of junk mail.
  40% of the solid mass that makes up our landfills is paper and paperboard waste.
  Junk mail inks have high concentrations of heavy metals, making the paper difficult to recycle.
  


• $320 million of local taxes are used to dispose of junk mail each year.
  California’s state and local governments spend $500,000 a year collecting and disposing of AOL’s direct mail disks alone.
  


• Transporting junk mail costs $550 million a year.
  

So, it's pretty compelling news to me that I need to enlist in one of these services to stop those pretty catalogs from coming to my house. I'm online anyway, and shopping anyway. I can enjoy my surfing knowing that I have done my part to slow global warming.

Take a look at this gorgeous menorah by Andrew Jackson Pollack. But order now, or he'll be too busy to create one just for you in time for the holidays. Don't forget our rewards program with free gifts. Cheers!--Ruth Mitchell

Cast Your Vote

"Spellbound" - Paola De Giovanni

Paola De Giovanni writes to us that he is in a photo competition with a piece that he has on our site. If you are looking for something useful to do support the arts and click here, to vote for Paola

It's no Sugar Shack

It's a tradition now at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco. Executive Pastry Chef, Jean-François Houdré, aka “King of the Castle,” is diligently working day and night perfecting his signature 12-feet rotating holiday Sugar Castle, to be unveiled in the Tower Lobby of The Westin St. Francis on Friday, November 23.

“The creation of the Sugar Castle is truly a labor of love,” says Chef Houdré. “Each year, I begin working on it two months in advance, adding more special touches and details each time. This year’s version promises to be the best yet!” The inspiration to create this one-of-a-kind, grandiose Sugar Castle came from Chef Houdré’s trip to Europe with his family in 2005. While traveling around Bordeaux, the Houdré family visited many remarkable châteaux, particularly Mont Saint Michel and La Cité de Carcassonne, which is one of Europe’s most complete examples of a fortified abbey.

As the Houdré family toured these extravagant castles, his son Henri, age ten, and his daughter, Claudia, age eight, were able to experience an earlier time when royalty once occupied these magnificent castles centuries ago. From that experience, the children were able to convince their father that he must build a sugar castle at The Westin St. Francis to rival the royal castles in France and display it for children to visit during the holiday season.

Resembling a French Chateau from Chef Houdre’s hometown of Bordeaux, the 100% edible castle is made of pastillage (a combination of powdered sugar, egg whites and gelatin dough), gingerbread, sugar, molasses, flour and candy. Weighing over 1200 pounds, this magical castle features more than 20 grand circular towers, approximately 30 rooms, illuminated windows, and is surrounded by a quaint village and a running train.

The castle is entirely edible, and is comprised of: 70 pounds of gingerbread, 130 pounds of pastillage (Powder sugar egg white and gelatin dough), 40 pounds of pulled and bubble sugar, Royal icing made of 300 pounds of sugar and egg whites, 40 pounds of molasses, 60 pounds of flour and 100 pounds of assorted Christmas Candy. It takes approximately 360 hours to complete the holiday masterpiece.

Opened more than a century ago on March 21, 1904, The Westin St. Francis is the only hotel located on San Francisco’s famous Union Square, The Westin St. Francis is just steps from The City’s best shopping, dining, theatres and art galleries. For reservations and more information, visit www.westinstfrancis.com.

Content No Longer King

A hundred years ago cotton was king. Last year content was king. Now social networking is king. This brief little survey of cultural norms brought to you by an internet marketer. (That would be me.) In a nutshell we've moved from a world focused on the basic needs of food, shelter and clothing, to a world that is connecting globally via the internet. Recent articles that have been appearing in my inbox, now indicate that social networking is the best way to market online. That's really good news for a small company like ours that doesn't have a huge advertising budget.

Let me explain a little, going back a little further than you probably want to. In the '90s, I worked in journalism, and we had a visionary editor who brought in a consultant who had been working on a little known project called the internet. It was being developed by brainiacs at universities across the world. Oddly enough, much of the information available was sparse, mostly erroneous and included things like how to make a bomb. I guess the brainiacs were keeping all the good stuff to themselves. The point was the internet was originally known as the information highway. Shortly thereafter, we got interoffice email, allowing us to sit at our desks even more so that we'd have to spend more time at the gym. It both connected and disconnected us, but ultimately made us more work efficient.

The idea of individual computers linked electronically was conceptually grasped by writers such S. Roxanne Hiltz and Murray Turoff (Addison-Wesley, 1978, 1993) who wrote The Network Nation. It wasn't long before retailers began seeing the merits of online marketing. But content was still king because the internet was developed by brainiacs, and Google and other search engines were set up on the premise that the internet was an "information highway." So, SEO, or Search Engine Optimization was born and the idea that if you wanted to attract traffic to you site, you needed to have lots of juicy content that would organically attract search engines.

According to Wikipedia, the world's first socially network based encyclopedia, early social networking websites included: "Classmates.com (1995), focusing on ties with former school mates, and SixDegrees.com (1997), focusing on indirect ties. Two different models of social networking that came about in 1999 were trust-based, developed by Epinions.com, and friendship-based, such as those developed by Jonathan Bishop and used on some regional UK sites between 1999 and 2001.[Innovations included not only showing who is "friends" with whom, but giving users more control over content and connectivity. By 2005, one social networking service MySpace, was reportedly getting more page views than Google, with Facebook, a competitor, rapidly growing in size. In 2007, Facebook began allowing externally-developed add-on applications, and some applications enabled the graphing of a user's own social network -- thus linking social networks and social networking.
Social networking began to flourish as a component of business internet strategy at around March 2005 when Yahoo launched Yahoo! 360°. In July 2005 News Corporation bought MySpace, followed by ITV (UK) buying Friends Reunited in December 2005." Wikipedia estimates there are now over 200 social networking sites.

So, as a small entrepreneur, social networks provide a non-advertising venue to reach potential customers with goods and services. One such website called thisnext.com has a "Watch People Shop" page. Click on it, its fascinating. It is a real time log of people buying things listed on thisnext.com.

Gee, I can remember when I thought blogging was for bored teenagers who needed to "get a life." Now I see it as a way to share and receive information from all corners of the world. We are still very much into providing quality content in addition to the fabulous art created by artists from around the world. I share this masterfully produced watercolor painting with you now. Let us hear from you!--Ruth Mitchell

White Iris - Laurin McCracken

New Pricing Just in Time for the Holidays

Now enjoy the pleasure of owning or gifting a beautiful Kentucky Cutting Board by Jennifer Adams at a new, lower price! Remember, always FREE SHIPPING at buyoutsidethebox.com.

Exclusive to Buyoutsidethebox.com

This gorgeous necklace by artist Rebecca Bogan of Corrales, New Mexico is made with hand forged and wrapped sterling silver wire, sterling silver chain. It features a faceted AAA+ Amethyst (10mm) , Citrine (10mm), AAA+ Rock Quartz (8mm) and high fired Greek ceramic beads dipped in fine silver. I have added an Oxidized Patinae, hand polished and machine hardened the metal. This necklace measure approximately 19.00 inches in length and can be adjusted down to any shorter length.The closure is a Sterling Silver lobster clasp. Buy now and this one purchase will qualify you for free gifts from buyousidethebox.com

Rebecca Bogan is primarily a self-taught artist who makes her wonderful jewelry in her New Mexico home studio.

"Each one-of-a-kind piece is made from a variety of earthy and rustic materials," she says. "I particularly enjoy working with Silver and Copper, handmade artisan lampwork beads and Gemstones. Each design is unique and handcrafted by me with meticulous attention to detail and construction.

This fabulous bangle (Brangle) bracelet is made with a large handmade lampwork focal bead along with handmade accent lampwork beads, hand coiled Sterling silver with a heavy gauge Sterling silver core, Greek ceramic beads heavily dipped in Fine Silver and Bali silver accents. The lampwork focal is made by the extremely talented Richard Ronsick. The closure is a hinged handmade hook and is very easy to get on and off. This bracelet will fit a 6.5 inch wrist with room to spare and wears very comfortably. Buy now and receive free gifts from buyoutsidethebox.com.

Cirque du Soleil - Art in Motion

For a number of years now I had heard about Cirque du Soleil. And every time another person told me about their experience with this unique and bold performance art, my curiosity soared to new heights. Typically when this happens with a book, movie, or play, I tend to be let down by the actual experience because of course I have built up the actual product to epic proportions in my mind.

Not so in this case! While in Las Vegas recently, I was finally able to experience first hand the Mystère production of Cirque du Soleil, and was totally blown away by the brilliant creativity and execution of this fabulous show.

The most fabulous show on earth— I’ve read this description of the circus so many times in reference to the magical aura of this entertainment venue, but as a product of the culture of post WW II technology with its entertainment saturation I’ve never felt the awe described in literature that say someone growing up in the Great Depression might have felt peeking through the canvas of a tent that housed a fat lady or tattooed man.

I was aware during the performance that I had not experienced this type of childlike awe in quite some time. Starting with the Opening or Taiko, our senses were overloaded with performers crawling straight down walls like lizards. Leaping acrobats, beak faced birds, oversized babies and errant clowns who irreverently tossed the audience’s popcorn and pulled people out of their seats.

The costumes and colors in themselves were provocative. The high-tech scenery surpassed any special effects that might be used in a video production, and the physical skills of the performers stunned me. I literally could not take my eyes off the Hand to Hand musclemen, brothers Marco and Paul Lorador from Portugal, who performed a hand and body balancing act that I wouldn’t have believed possible without the trick of the camera, if they hadn’t almost been close enough to reach out and touch. Their grace and strength seemed superhuman as they balanced each other, every muscle in the human body working in total harmony with the other.

Then there was the Chinese Poles, The Aerial Cube, the Bungee, the Korean Plank, Trampoline and Fast Track, and the Aerial High Bar. And this is only one of half a dozen themed productions that are equally distinct and imaginative. In Las Vegas alone you can see “O,” “Love,” “KẦ,” “Zumanity,” and “Mystère.” And there are eight other productions that travel around the world as well.

It all started in 1982, in Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec, a charming, rural area popular with artists, art collectors and tourists. A group of young street performers, the Club des Talons Hauts (the High Heels Club) began to hatch the idea of organizing an entertainer’s festival, the Fête Foraine de Baie-Saint-Paul, which was the precursor of what was to become Cirque du Soleil. Guy Laliberté, an accordion player, stilt walker and fire-eater, dove into business to organize and plan the growth of the young company, creating one of the most amazing entertainment venues for a global stage.

Yes, I encourage you to see this show, this fabulous show. Put it on your A list of things you want to do in upcoming months. You will not be disappointed.—Ruth Mitchell